The present invention relates to instruments for the study of gases or particle laden fluids and in particular to an improved sensor system for providing spectrographic information about high-temperature or corrosive environments.
Remote spectrographic measurements may be made using a fiber optic guide attached to a “U-bench” being an optical component supporting an opposed light emitter and light collector or an opposed light emitter and mirror across a gap. Gases to be analyzed may pass freely within the gap to absorb frequencies of the light creating a spectrographic signature.
Precise alignment of the optical elements of the U-bench is normally obtained by close tolerance machining augmented by a separate alignment step where minor adjustments to the optical elements are made and then the optical elements fixed in a curing polymer such as epoxy. This two-step process allows a precision exceeding that obtained with normal mechanical tolerances alone.
Knowledge about gaseous species can be important in the study and control of chemical reactions in high-temperature environments including internal combustion engines, coal gasifiers in power plants, or gases in high-temperature process furnaces. The epoxies used in constructing a typical sensor U-bench are normally not compatible with such high temperatures or corrosive environments. For this reason, construction of U-bench type sensors for these applications can be time consuming and expensive.